Southover Street Seagull
Well-known member
No it doesn't make you a tory mate. Two years is a long time to be on benefits and do nothing about it. My friend is this: been on it for possibly 3 years, is 29 with his own nice coucil flat and has done little in my eyes in ways of getting trained up in something and into work. This does piss me off a little, when i'm out working and at uni to pay for my privately rented flat. I don't agree with community work (that's for the criminals), the gov't, job centre etc should provide courses, opportunities for training so they can get jobs for at least £7p/h (maybe possibly raise minimum wage to £7ph). I don't agree with the tories if you turn down 2 or 3 jobs then you're benefits are stopped, especially if the hourly wage is £5.70 and is a job you can't stand. Give people the choice first to do courses, work placements, etc etc in jobs they're going to excel in. If you give people these options then they have really not got a leg to stand on by turning it down and i'm sure plenty on the dole would take advantage of this. But if after plenty of opportunites and every incentive to get some people of dole and they still refuse, then clearly different action would have to be taken.
Your mate is someone, who if I was in power would now be doing community work for their benefit money. When I mean community work I mean working on the dustbins, road sweeping, parks and gardens, helping in hospitals, stuff like that.
I agree that people should be given all the opportunity to train in new careers, but if after two years they haven't found work through laziness or just bad luck I think the money the state pays them to live should have a some form of return. Getting them back to work even if it is the lowly stuff I am on about must be better than being on the dole?